A coupling unit of the kind set forth in the opening part of this specification, a system comprising a coupling unit and a coupling trolley and a system comprising a freely displaceable device with a coupling unit and a coupling trolley as well as a method of the above-indicated kind are known from DE 20 2014 100 481 U1.
The device is for example an RTG (Rubber Tired Gantry), a device similar thereto, a crane installation or other machine. The device to be coupled is more or less free-running and is connected for certain purposes to an energy chain system. The aim of that temporary connection is the transmission of energy, data or media. For that purpose electric lines, optical waveguides or hoses are connected together by suitable plugs.
This connection is to be found on a “coupling trolley” which travels in the longitudinal direction parallel to the energy chain and to the path of displacement of the device. That “coupling trolley” carries a part of the plug and is fixedly connected to the energy chain. The coupling trolley is mounted longitudinally displaceably on a suitable profile member and is driven, and is therefore “self-displacing”.